Quang Nam (VNA) – The Hoi An International🃏 Food Festival “Taste the World”, the first of its kind, will open at An Hoi sculpture garden on March 14, transforming the ancient town into a truly international culinary destination for one week.

Twelve noble chefs from 12 countries will demonstrate their cooking skills at 12 local restaurants; namely Cargo club, Morning Glory, Inflame club, Mango I, Mango II, Rice Drum, Seafood Garden, Vinh Hung, Seedlings, Mangorooms, Tam Tam and Hai café, as heard at a press conference on March 8. The participating restaurants will be decorated and themed to the countries of the visiting chefs, who will prepare traditional dishes from their respective countries. Nguyen Van Son, Deputy Chairman of the Hoi An city People’s Committee, said foreign chefs will bring Hoi An’s cuisine to countries and territories worldwide, thereby popularising Hoi An, its land and people. The ancient city of Hoi An in central Quang Nam province was a renowned international trade port in the 17th century where ships from Japan, China, and European countries docked to exchange wares. Covering 60 sq.km, Hoi An has 22.5 sq.km of agriculture and forest land and 11 sq.km of lakes and channels. In 2012, it was shortlisted for the top ten Asian cities in the US-magazine Conde Nast's Traveler's Readers Choice Awards. The following year, the UNESCO-recognised world heritage city was chosen for the Townscape Award by the UN-Habitat Regional Office in Asia. Hoi An food has also been honoured by prestigious magazines and websites globally, ranking sixth in TripAdvisor. Meanwhile, cooking in Hoi An was also named among the top 10 international travel experiences by Lonely Planet.-VNA